I have an extremely Hard/Heavy heartbeat.

I am in thirty's woman in great health and also told a doctor similar symptons. Sometimes my heart seems to race and then quiet down and also sometimes beats very heavy to a point where I can't sleep. Anyway a few years ago I went in for a regular physical and mentioned it bugging me.

The doctor said stop drinking coffee...Period! I switched to tea and layed off the caffiene , it did help and went away but is now back and more than usual so I will again stop the coffee drinking. dangit! love that stuff.

I see someone mentioned being de-hydrated can cause a heavy beat so I will also try drinking lots of water. Any caffeine drinker should for SURE drink lots of water to counter act the de-hydrating effects of coffee/tea.

I'm in my mid 20's and have been overweight for about 10 years.I began having a seriously pronounced heartbeat when both active and resting.No amount of water/health food or exercise helped and it became impossible to sleep.After about 3 days of living in denial and trying to solve this problem by myself,I realized that things were getting consistently worse and to prolong going to the doctor any further was putting myself at enormous risk.So I had my father rush me to the emergency room where my blood pressure was a horrifying 207/120! I was immediately hooked up to an I.V. and given new meds and in about 15 minutes I was down to a perfect BP and the hammering in my chest vanished. According to the doc, my old BP medication wasn't really appropriate to begin with and the fact that I sometimes forgot to take it wasn't helping my heart one bit. My ekg and blood tests came back normal though,so the doc put me on the medicine I was given at the E.R. and I'm happy to say that my vitals have been absolutley textbook ever since.I do still feel my heart beat every now and then,but considering that my heart almost exploded just a few days ago from what was the equivalent of a 72 hour marathon I'd say it's got some healing to do. I'm already losing the weight and living off nothing but fruits, veggeis and water now and I've also given up all weightlifting for at least a few months.So please,if you're experiencing a harder,more pronounced heartbeat then get to the doc quick.I've always been afraid of hospitals but this had me running for one and thank the Lord I did.

This is all very interesting...for over two years now, I have been in and out of the hospital for similar symptoms including a heavy heart beat, high blood pressure, and Preventricular Contractions (PVC). ALL tests have come back negative (chest echos, stress echos, EKGs, etc). The PVC's seem to only come when my heart rate and blood pressure get very high, but I feel my heart beating hard all the time. I also have acid reflux which seems to be somehow connected to the heart issues; I feel the heart beating more when my acid reflux is bad. I'm convinced the problem is a combination of a few things; 1) Stress, 2) Digestive problems (ie acid reflux, ulcer, etc), 3) allergies to something like wheat or carbohydrates. I think stress is causing much of the acid reflux, which is also being upset by some foods. Out of curiosity, does anyone else get reddish patches on their face? I think mine are from allergies and seem to get worse when I eat a lot of carbohydrates. Just wondering if there's a connection.

A few months ago my heart started racing and pounding for no apparant reason one night. It made me panic alot and I didn't sleep all night while it pounded away the whole time. I went to the doctor in the morning and she said I should relax and it would calm down. But it didn't and for the next few nights I lay wide awake panicking as I could feel my chest pound with every heartbeat. I went to the doctor again and had an ECG and blood tests done which both showed nothing wrong. He said that hopefully that would be enough reassurance for me for the heart pounding to stop in a few weeks but it still hasn't.
I'm only 24 and am very atheltic and healthy but this is really affecting my enjoyment of life! I can't relax anymore because sitting still makes me very aware of my heartbeat. I definitely believe I have developed an anxiety issue as this is the only real possible explaination. I can't even watch tense parts of films now without my heart pounding and getting all tense inside. I recently turned down a trip to a theme park with my friends because I was afraid that I now come under the 'no people with heart conditions should use this ride' category! I get pains in my heart every now and again which really freak me out. Also when I go out drinking, the next 2 or 3 days are a nightmare! I am so on edge and my heart is all over the place. The anxiety I feel multiplies so much with a hangover.
I only go to bed every night when I am absolutely shattered because I don't like lying awake for too long feeling my heartbeat and can only sleep on my right side now as this limits the pounding sensations slightly. This is not how I want to live the rest of my life!! I'm just holding out hope that it will calm down soon and I can get back to enjoying life again.

By the way, if I'd read all this 6 months ago I would have laughed at the thought of it!!

I have the same problem as everyone here. I did some research though and it led me to two things. The first is that this may be triggered by stress or anxiety, more common in young people. And the second is called tachycardia. Tachycardia usually occurs more commonly in episodes, and during times when you feel stressed or exited. Caffeine is a major cause of this, especially energy drinks, and sometimes even dieting pills. I recommend that you see your primary health doctor and ask to get a 24hour heart monitor. This device will gather information about your heart in 24 hours and determine if there are any problems.

I hope this helped everyone here, and good luck solving any problems that you have.

I'm so relieved after reading this thread, i thought i was the only one experiencing these problems. I can relate fully to most of your comments and have already began trying to cut out foods in my diet to see if it helps....
My story:
I am a 23 year old male, average to skinny build, no health problems, athletic (i play rec hockey 3 times a week and many other sports).
It all began 2 months ago after a night of drinking, nothing too heavy but i was still drunk by nights-end. I had also had a fast food burger late in the evening before going to bed....woke up the next morning with a heavy heart beat, not fast or anything, but i could definitely feel it....i didnt think anything of it because it seemed like a typical hangover for me...that was until it continued days afterwards, seeming to get worse late at night after supper or when laying in bed. I could not get into my regular doctor so i had went to the walk-in clinic in my city and the doctor recommended blood-work, ECG, and 24-hour holter monitor test...also, she said it would be best to stay away from alcohol too...i feel like the last 2 months have been the most socially painful months of my life, i am still young and love to go out with friends and drink...and i feel like this has really been a depressing experience...i had to wait a month and a half for my 24-hour holter monitor test to take place also....bloodwork, ECG and holter test all came back negative....but i still find myself to have this heavy heartbeat. I sometimes get minor discomforts in my chest and my left arm does feel strange some nights while laying in bed...i can also feel my pulse in my fingertips and that really disrupts my sleeping.

I feel like this problem is dietary, and that i may have developed an allergy to a specific food...but i still have not received any answers. I wake up in the morning and all seems well, that is, until lunch or suppertime....ive had a few good nights where i think the problem is gone, but then the next day it acts up again.
This problem does not act up any more or any less after i do physical activity, i sometimes think i'm just noticing it because im laying down watching tv...but then again, its been so long that i can barely remember how my heart is supposed to feel...

Thank you all for your posts, they have all left me with a sense of comfort in knowing that im not "dying"....
I will check back often and hopefully be able to reply with an answer as to what my condition is...

i'm gonna report about the same as everyone else. it is comforting to see other people are having this problem, and are still alive....

i'll be 28 in a week. my heartrate 2 nights ago was about at 200. last night about 150. i could really feel it too. right now, my puse is faint. when my heartrate shot up, it was very heavy.

went to the hospital the first time, and the only thing they could find wrong was the high heart rate. possibly an anxiety attack. i do have high anxiety & high stress....

i take remeron & seroquel every night before bed. i am in pretty decent shape. i've recently re-dedicated myself to running. about average weight & above average muscle mass.

Hey guys.. I cannot believe your doctors are telling you it's normal. It's probably not that big a problem, but it's a problem nonetheless. A fast or heavy heartbeat when in a relaxed state means your unfit. I also have ringing in my ears, when I went to the doctor, he said that there was no damage to my ear drum. His suggestion was that I could hear the blood flowing in my head due to sensitive hearing. I can hear a wider range frequency than most people, which means I hear those dog/cat control things that let out a pitch only they can hear.. and it rlly hurts! lol. However, this ringing in your ears can be caused by high blood pressure. You guys need to get running and get fit. However, I'm athletic but my heartbeat is still heavy. I'm wondering if lifting heavy weights is causing something cus i see bigger guys with worse blood pressure! (that guy with the bleeding nose.. id defo say hbp) i dont know, it get's really bad sometimes and i feel out of breath from it.. im worried i may have a heartattack (i'm only 18 :/). I also take Nitrix, which increases nitrigen levels in blood and makes your beins bigger.. I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it too.

there is a good answer on hard heart beat?-yahoo!7answers

Well it is evident that we all feel the same thing, or else we would not all be on this site looking up symptoms. I am 24 and can relate to every single post, especially to the ones that are written by others close to my age. I suffer from the same things, and am also fairly athletic (although I drink too much now and am nowhere close to being in the shape I was I was in highschool) and constantly being told that I am healthy by doctors. I am in physical therapy school now and I know way too much about the human body, probably more than is healthy for any non medical person to know. Because of this, I am way too aware of everything with my body, especially my heart, seeing as how that is the most common "killer" for people these days. My BP today was 128/70, and I freaked out because any slight deviation above normal freaks me out. I even checked it at the pharmacy about one hour later and it was 146/78. That alone, along with everything else I have noticed, makes me believe that all of this is strongly related to anxiety, stress, awareness of self, thinking too much about your own body, and being super aware of everything that happens within your own system. If you are truly worried, then get checked, but it probably won't help because in most cases it will come back normal and only give you a peace of mind for a week or so. We obviously all have the same symptoms, and a lot of these posts are from seemingly "athletic" individuals. Aside from everything I mentioned earlier, genetics and sleep have a lot to do with it all too. Lack of sleep can alter just about everything in your body, especially heart rate, blood pressure, heart amplitude, and awareness. Genetics and inherited traits can also play a huge role in all of this worrying. If one or both of your parents worried or continue to worry a lot about everything, especially health related issues, then it is impossible for you to not be aware of the same things, which can cause all of the symptoms listed previously. I have checked friends pulses whose are way stronger or higher than mine, they just dont notice it because they dont think about it or care about it. Not saying its healthy for them, but it is obviously not healthy for us to waste our lives away worrying and stressing about things that, obviously, we can not control, even though we do everything we know to try and control them. All in all, go to the doctor if your worried, get a blood panel, EKG, holter monitor, and maybe even a stress test because if you all are like me, you want more tests. But after all of those come back normal, then quit worrying and thinking about your hearts because, all in all, we can't really control them. The heart is not a skeletal muscle, it is under involuntary control, and although our thoughts and stress and actions and everything can alter what it does, we can't "actually" control how hard or fast it beats. Exercise, drink PLENTY of water, eat healthy, and try to not worry or think about it. It's nothing controllable and only gets worse with thinking about it. Hopefully this helps, reading these posts made me at ease and although I may be looking up the same thing a week from now, I feel that I'm thinking pretty clearly about the whole thing right now. Good luck.

I am 58 and having hard loud heartbeats. This is a recent event, but it seems to be happening more and more frequently. My heartbeat don't seem rapid, and it mostly occurs when I lean back or lie down. It rarely happens when I am active, and I sometimes can get it to quiet down by moving around. I have taken blood pressure medicine (atenolol) for 25 years and it is under control. I wonder also if being aware of it makes it seem worse than it is. People seem to suggest it's atrial fibrillation, but it seems more like palpitations. Here's what Wikipedia says about palpitations:
-------
A palpitation is an abnormality of heartbeat that causes a conscious awareness of its beating,[1] whether it is too slow, too fast, irregular, or at its normal frequency. The word may also refer to this sensation itself. [2] It can be caused by (but should not be confused with) ectopic beat, which is a more specific diagnosis.
The difference between an abnormal awareness and a normal awareness is that the former interrupts other thoughts, whereas the latter is almost always caused by a concentration on the beating of one's heart. Palpitations may be brought on by overexertion, adrenaline, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, and other drugs, disease (such as hyperthyroidism and pheochromocytoma) or as a symptom of panic disorder. More colloquially, it can also refer to a shaking motion. It can also happen in mitral stenosis.
Nearly everyone experiences an occasional awareness of their heart beating, but when it occurs frequently, it can indicate a problem. Palpitations may be associated with heart problems, but also with anemias and thyroid malfunction.
Attacks can last for a few seconds or hours, and may occur very infrequently, or more than daily. Palpitations alongside other symptoms, including sweating, faintness, chest pain or dizziness, indicate irregular or poor heart function and should be investigated.
Palpitations may also be associated with anxiety and panic attacks, in which case psychological assessment is recommended. This is a common disorder associated with many common medications such as anti-depressants.

47 year old male here. Packed up smoking about 5 years ago and piled on about 50 pounds. BP is slightly raised normally about 140-80. Doctor thinks this will go if I lose weight (currently 250 pounds). However the other night after a very stressful day my heartbeat kept me awake. Checked it on my machine and it was 155-88! This morning back to 140 - 75 but I don't feel great. I don't feel particularly unwell just , well, not right?

Hi,

i have the same problem as well - I am 6'2 - 18 stones with only 14% bodyfat

I found that tomatoes help relax and bring the beat back to normality

I occasionally have the same problem. I am 30, fit and otherwise healthy. My heart thumps rather than beats which is really off putting when trying to get to sleep. For me I have put it down to the combination following in my case:

1. Stress/Anxiety
2. Caffeine and other stimulants
3. Heavy gym workouts (weight lifting)
4. Anxiety cause by the heavy heart beating (self perpetuating problem). When you worry about your heart beat it tends to get worse. The anxiety gets so bad it feels like the onset to a heart attack.

Since i have given up weight lifting and avoid caffeine the problem has disappeared. When i do get heavy heart beating, getting my mind off it seems to help. If i feel my heart getting out of control when in bed, i get up watch tv until i stop noticing it then try getting back to sleep. Lying in bed worrying about seems to make it worse (reason 4).

It's a terrible problem to have because whilst people tell you there is nothing wrong, there is a fear of heart attack and even dying.

I hope the rest of you can figure out what is triggering it and learn to manage it.

im 16 years old and have a heavy/hard heartbeat but my pulse is usually normal but my blood pressure gets elevated alot... i dont drink or smoke or anything & it randomly happens during the day and the night....my dr down where i live said that nothing was wrong, but then my kidney dr found that my blood pressure was abnormally high. its very weird but someone i know was diagnosed with tachycardia. so some of you may want to look it up and see if ur symptoms match up... hope it helps a little...